Sledding Accident

A/N: Wow! 3,000 words! :D I wasn't sure if it was gonna be long or short or what, but my last RotG one shot featured just Jack, angsting and crap, and I decided that I just had to write something involving Jamie and the Guardians, preferably with some hurt/comfort thrown in. Also, Jack Frost is frickin' sexy made solid, and he really deserves more than a couple short chapter stories every few months.

He'd failed.

Those weren't the first words that came to mind when it happened, but later, when Jamie wandered out of the hospital now with a few extra stitches than before, and stumbling a little on his way towards the car, that was what plagued the winter spirit. He had failed in his duty to protect a child. In fact, he had been the one that had hurt Jamie in the first place. Maybe not intentionally, but it had happened, and there was no changing it.

Bunnymund had once accused him of not looking after children enough. The rabbit had insisted that he cared more about fun than a child's safety. At the time, the words had angered Jack, and he'd hotly and immediately defended himself, but now he realized that the older Guardian was absolutely right.

He hadn't been looking out for Jamie, or thinking about protecting him; he'd been thinking of how much fun they were going to have, and how this streak of ice was going to make the best sled ride ever for the boy. Jamie had happily jumped on his sled and started down the streak of ice, Jack gently guiding him onto the path, making sure he didn't accidentally veer off into the snow.

Jack remembered the last time Jamie had been sledding, and thought that maybe Jamie might like to go flying like that again. He created a bit of a boost at the very end of the path, and Jamie went flying. But this time, he didn't land in a patch of freshly fallen snow, because Jack hadn't thought to cover the ground one more time before taking the kid sledding. He'd failed.

Instead, Jamie had hit the icy asphalt, gone tumbling off his sled, and went lunging into the street, where three cars nearly hit him before Jack regained his senses and grabbed the boy off the road, dragging him back to the safety of the sidewalk. The kid had barely been conscious, slumped over in Jack's arms and bleeding heavily from his head. A few of the watching kids screamed when they spotted the blood, Monty fainted on the spot, and Sophie burst into horrified tears for her older brother.

Jack hugged the small body closer to him and if blood still ran in his veins, then it froze where it was, and his heart skipped a couple beats before stopping altogether. His mind ran in panicked circles, but the other children were still so scared…he couldn't afford to show fear, not right now. "Guys, go get…go get…" Who to get? It wasn't like these kids could fly up to the Pole or the Warren and get the Guardians' attention. And besides that, when Jack allowed his thoughts to stray to them, he felt a crushing shame. He had failed a child, and they were not to know about this. "Go get Jamie's mother," he finally settled on her, and Pippa, Caleb and Claude nodded once and scampered off, heading for the brown-haired boy's house as fast as they could.

Jamie's mother was by no means unfazed, but she was noticeably calmer than the children, and nowhere near as hysterical as Jack. Jack handed the boy off to one of the children so she wouldn't question why her son appeared to be held up by some invisible force. Ms. Bennett took the boy in her arms as Claude hastily explained things, his face going whiter by the second. The sudden sound of a howling siren made the children and the boy's mother glance up to see an ambulance flying down the street at top speed, running red lights. In all the excitement, Jack realized that there must have been a crash from before he yanked Jamie out of the road. He'd been so focused on the child that he had given no thought to the drivers.

One of EMT men asked Ms. Bennett a few questions, in a brisk and professional voice, regarding the nature of her son's accident, and had he been hit by any of the cars? Ms. Bennett looked questioningly at the children, and Caleb spoke, shaking his head. "No, he didn't get hit, Jack grabbed him before he did."

"Did Jack get hurt?" Another man joined the conversation, pushing his hair out of his eyes as he looked around for another injured child.

Pippa shook her head wordlessly. "No, he didn't get hurt or anything, he was back on the sidewalk in seconds flat."

The EMTs wanted to speak to Jack, and then Pippa had to explain about Jack Frost, which brought them all into an ambulance to get checked for head trauma, because nobody believed them. Jamie was laid carefully on a stretcher and put it in the back. The white doors were slammed shut, and the ambulance took off once more.

Jack had never liked cars much; they were slower than flying, and, in his rather adrenaline-junkie-crazed eyes, that made them rather boring as well. But today he clung to the side of the car, leaving a trail of frost on the windows because he couldn't control the panic seizing him. What if Jamie had a concussion? What if Jamie had permanent head trauma? What if Jamie ended up dead?

Despite living three hundred years alone, Jack was not very good in a crisis. When he was injured, he could mostly control the panic long enough to patch himself up, and then try to calm himself down by unleashing a huge blizzard somewhere. When he felt scared for himself, he quelled the fear very well. But when he was scared for a child, the avenues of terror that he could wander down were endless.

When the ambulances arrived at the emergency room and brought Jamie in through a pair of green double doors, Jack followed as closely as he could, trying not to bring the temperature down too many degrees in his fear. He was actually wringing his hands as he followed them down the hallways, and into a small room, leaving everybody except Ms. Bennett outside to get their own heads checked, even though Claude insisted that there was nothing wrong with them.

Jack chose to follow Ms. Bennett, as he knew that there was nothing wrong with the others unless you counted shock. When he got his first good look at Jamie again, he shook so badly that he had to lean against the wall to hold himself up, and then slide down to the tiled, rubbing alcohol-scented floor.

He watched as doctors filed in and out, giving reports on the boy. A smiling nurse came in and filled up five sheets on a clipboard on what Jack assumed to be information about him.

As Ms. Bennett was his mother, and Jamie was a minor, she was permitted to stay in the room while they slowly inspected the injury, washed the blood away, and began to stitch.

Jamie awoke halfway through the process and demanded to know why they were messing with his head and asking what was going on. Ms. Bennett was trying to answer his questions as best she could, but was completely lost when he started asking for Jack.

Jack stood from his spot and shakily made his way over to the bedside, giving the boy's cold hand a squeeze. "I'm right here, kiddo," he whispered. He hoped he sounded reassuring, and not scared out of his mind.

Jamie's face relaxed into a smile, but Jack shushed him until the stitches were completed and the doctor settled that he would stay overnight to be safe.

When Jamie's mother finally felt that everything was settled long enough to use the restroom, Jack let the kid speak.

"What happened, Jack?" he blurted the moment the door closed behind Ms. Bennett. "I mean, I was sledding down the hill, and I flew into the air, and…and…I don't remember anything after that."

It was then that the crushing guilt of what he had done hit the winter spirit. "I'm sorry," Jack took the boy's hand, kneeling down beside his bed so they were eye level. "It was my fault, I sent the sled flying, and you hit your head and rolled into the street."

Jamie's eyes went wide. Jack expected a betrayed tone to issue from the boy's mouth, but after a moment, he broke into a huge grin. "I can't wait to tell the kids at school!"

Jack felt a sudden relief flow through him when he realized Jamie was not mad. It didn't take away the guilt permanently, and it wouldn't fix what he'd done, but it was a step in the right direction. He fondly ruffled the kid's hair, but Jamie winced slightly. There was the guilt again, eating away at him. Jack slowly let his hand drop.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into the silence.

Jamie was smiling again, but there was a kind of pain in his eyes. "It doesn't matter, this is gonna be so cool! Hey, where's Sophie?"

"They're probably getting her tested for head trauma, too."

"What happened to her?" Jamie might have been young, but from the moment he saw the little pink bundle in his mother's arms, he had registered a protective instinct as he realized he now had somebody younger than him, to depend on him, a person whom he could teach about the world. And now that protectiveness showed as he sat up quickly, looking a little panicky.

"Nothing," Jack assured him quickly, putting a gentle white hand on the boy's chest and giving him a gentle shove back down. "Nothing's happened to her, but your friends mentioned me to the doctors and stuff, and…well, it kinda made the adults question you guys' sanity, or wonder if they'd knocked a screw loose, too."

"Hmm." Jamie's lips twisted into a thoughtful frown as he reluctantly surrendered and sank back down onto the pillows. He didn't say anything for quite a bit of time, and Jack felt like filling the silence with more apologies, more promises to be more careful, but what did you do when somebody wasn't even angry? He'd hurt Jamie, but the kid wasn't even mad at him for it. He was excitedly planning to tell everybody at school what happened just as soon as he could.

Jack blew out a frustrated, icy breath as the door opened again, and Ms. Bennett rushed back in, over to her son's bedside, and took his hand again.

Jack was known for his rather short attention span. He didn't pay much attention at Guardian meetings to begin with, except if it called for heckling Bunnymund, or teasing the rabbit in some way. But today, it seemed that nobody could get the winter spirit to focus. He was distracted throughout almost everything he did, and the temperature was so low in the room that they had to start a fire in the hearth just to keep warm.

The Easter Bunny cast a quick, emerald gaze over to the winter spirit, who sat a little ways away from the uncomfortable heat, staring moodily into the distance, his hood pulled up over his head. "Do ya mind toning it down a bit, mate?" He scooted closer to the white-haired boy, nudging him in the ribs with a furry elbow.

Jack jumped slightly, as if he hadn't even realized he was in the same room with the others. He blinked vacant blue eyes up at the rabbit for a moment. "What?"

"I'm freezin' my bloody tail off," the rabbit grunted. "Could ya just stop turning this place into your own personal Antarctica?"

The faintest hint of a purple blush ghosted across the pale cheeks. "I'm sorry," he said listlessly, his eyes drifting again away from the rabbit's face.

Bunny would rather die than admit it. But he was starting to get worried. Normally, when he complained about the cold temperatures, Jack teased him endlessly for being too weak to take a bit of a chill. This would normally lead to Bunny yelling insults and the Guardian meeting often turned into a shouting match between both spirits, Jack taking every word of the rabbit's in jest, and the Easter spirit taking all of the white-haired boy's comments straight to heart.

It was odd to see Jack actually apologizing, instead of taking the chance to mock the Easter spirit.

"Mate?" Bunny tried cautiously, worriedly.

It was a few seconds before Jack registered that somebody had spoken. "Yes?" He turned to actually face Bunny this time, and the older Guardian felt like he had been punched when he saw what a bad state the other spirit was in. There were dark circles under the blue eyes, noticeably deeper than they normally were. His eyes in general just carried a haunted look about them and this worried Bunnymund more than he cared to admit.

"Mate…" But for once, words failed the six-foot rabbit. "Mate, what's wrong? What's happened?" Because something had certainly happened. He just didn't yet know what.

Jack shook his head, his eyes beginning to drift away from the older Guardian's again. "Nothing," he said absent-mindedly, though his grip on his staff was white-knuckled. "Sorry about the cold. I'll try and tone it down."

"Frostbite, you look like you're a million miles away," Bunny commented worriedly, but Jack didn't hear the concern in the rabbit's voice; he was too lost in thought. "Something's happened to upset you, that's obvious enough. Now, c'mon, tell me what it is."

Jack's thin lips tightened a bit. "There's nothing going on," he murmured, more to himself than to anyone listening. "Can I go now? There are things I have to take care of."

This statement drew the attention of not only Bunnymund, but also the three other Guardians, still gathered around the fire.

"What is wrong, Jack?" North boomed questioningly, looking around at the pair curiously. Jack was rarely the first to leave at Guardian meetings; he preferred to hang around the Pole with North and tease the yetis during his off-seasons. And yes, it was winter, but Jack normally gave the hemisphere a light dusting before coming to meetings so he never had to rush off right after.

Tooth cast a rather concerned look at the winter spirit as well. "What's wrong, Sweet Tooth?" she chirped, fluttering over to him. For once, her fingers did not stray longingly towards his mouth. They stayed obediently by her sides as she scanned him with her large amethyst eyes.

Sandy offered nothing more than a question mark with a picture of a sad-looking boy, whom everyone assumed to be Jack.

"Nothing." The winter spirit's reply was as sharp and icy as he could be, when he felt the need to sound particularly vindictive. "I just want to go is all."

This wouldn't have been cause for concern had, say, Bunny said the words. Bunny was always a little grumpy, even at the best of times, and he expressed disgust more often than not for these Guardian meetings that North called almost weekly. And, in Bunny's opinion, he saw quite enough of the others even without the meetings. There was no reason for him to be seeing them then, too. But North insisted. He said that they were "семья" and that Jack needed "stability" and "support" and "love". And no matter how strongly Bunny protested, nothing would change the Christmas spirit's mind.

"Okay, Frostbite, cut the bull's wool," Bunny finally snorted, feeling as if he'd had it up to here with that spirit. He didn't like people throwing themselves pity parties. He preferred for them to freaking tell him what the matter was, so he could fix it. He was not a naturally idle person.

Jack's blue gaze darted to each of the Guardians in turn, and then he whispered the words that had plagued him for almost five days. "I failed." His voice trembled slightly, a fact he hated.

"Failed at what?" Tooth looked very sympathetic, fluttering closer to him and kneeling down so they were eye level with each other. "Surely it can't be that bad."

"It was." Jack's voice was painfully quiet. "I…I failed…at being a Guardian. I failed at protecting a child. Bunny was right."

"I was right?" Bunny repeated uncomprehendingly. "What was I right about, mate?"

"How did you fail?" North asked at exactly the same moment.

"Don't overwhelm him," Tooth cautioned gently, as Sandy began confusedly flashing signs above his head.

"I didn't think about Jamie's safety, in fact, I'm the one who endangered him in the first place!" The words fell easily from Jack's tongue; he'd been thinking them so long that now they came quickly to him as he spoke. "He went to the hospital because of me, and he could have died!"

"Hospital?" Bunny repeated, brow knitting in worry.

"Yes!" Jack ran his fingers through his hair, making the glistening white look even more tousled than it usually did. "He had to go to the hospital, and he needed thirty-seven stitches because I was too stupid to look after him!"

Worry was etched into every line of North's face, and clear in Bunny's soft green eyes.

"Wait, wait. Back it up, mate." The rabbit spoke before Santa could. "What do you mean, it was your fault? What even happened?"

So Jack, rather reluctantly, and finding he couldn't really look any of them in the eye when he spoke, began to tell the story.

Once he had finished explaining about the bleeding head and the cars that nearly hit the boy, and crashed because of the winter spirit's carelessness, he slumped down, looking rather defeated. "And…and I failed as a Guardian. You were right, Bunny. I do care more about having fun than the children's safety, you were right. I'm not fit to be a Guardian. Jamie could have gotten seriously hurt because I was too stupid—

"Sweet Tooth, that wasn't your fault!" Tooth looked scandalized as she listened to Jack's story, zooming around before finally engulfing him in a tight hug. "Jamie probably would have gotten hurt regardless…"

"I was so stupid," the white-haired boy mumbled, rubbing at his forehead with two fingers. "I mean, he could have died because of me…"

Sandy raised an eyebrow, not even needing a sign to communicate the words, 'I think you're being a bit dramatic about that'.

Bunny's voice interrupted the winter spirit's thoughts. "Mate, how long have you been beating yourself up over this?"

"I reject the phrase 'beating myself up'," Jack responded, looking a little offended. "And it happened on Thursday, I think…"

"Why didn't you come to one of us sooner? Why didn't you come to us when Jamie got hurt?" Bunny demanded. "We could have taken care of things just as well as you could have."

Jack darted a rather shifty glance at the rabbit before looking back down again. "I didn't want you guys getting mad, or accusing me of being careless."

"It was clearly an accident!" Tooth replied, giving him another fierce hug. "Of course we wouldn't call you careless when you didn't mean to! Why on earth would we make you feel worse than you already do?"

Jack shrugged, but that purple blush was stealing back over his cheeks.

Bunny couldn't deny that he would have called Jack careless, so all he could really do was sigh and say, "Oh, Frostbite…"